The only skincare damage control list you’ll ever need

Tuesday, 15 May 2018

In an ideal world, our skincare routine would happen at the same time every day. We’d carve out fifteen minutes to wash, tone, and moisturise our skin, and go to bed nice and early to settle in for eight or so hours of blissful beauty sleep. We’d also crave vegetables, abhor cronuts, and finish a strong yoga class without a drop of sweat to show for it. But none of that is happening any time soon because we’re human, and because cronuts are unequivocally the best thing, ever.

But no need to fret, babe. We’ve got ya. The next time your skin is freaking out because you stayed out a little too late, or because you didn’t wash off a contour completely, just reference this article filled with damage control procedures for every hot mess under the sun.

The hot yoga class

First of all, we’re going to assume you were a babe and made sure to take off all your makeup with a cleansing wipe before your workout. If you skip that, you’re heading for spots-ville. So, take off all your makeup with a sensitive wipe, followed by a moisturiser that isn’t too heavy (stick to gels). After your class, wash your face immediately, followed again with a moisturiser. You can do your face-washing in the locker room shower, too, which means sweat doesn’t have a chance to block the pores elsewhere on your body.

The long-haul flight of doom

If you’re lucky enough to have had a long-haul flight from somewhere fabulous recently, you would have noticed that your skin went ((BESERK)) for the days following landing. What gives? Well, the air in a plane is really dry. Very, very dry. Like this Allure articles says, your skin thrives in a humidity range of 40-70%, but a plane typically only has 20%. This leads your skin to dry out. If you already have dry skin, this is exacerbated, turning the skin sensitive and red. From this you’d think that oily peeps are off the hook, right? WRONG.

Oily skin can dehydrate on a plane journey, which makes your sebaceous glands work overtime trying to correct that dryness. The thing is, while your skin needs moisture at this stage, your glands are actually providing oil. It’s basically a bad quick-fix; with more oil being produced, pores with a lot of oil in them already are then clogged, which in turn leads to (drum roll)….zits. Ugh! Right, now – what are we gonna do about it? Two words huni: hyaluronic acid. Difficult to say, easier to use, this miracle ingredient naturally occurs in our skin but depletes as we age. Perfect in a serum form, applying this mid-flight will help combat both sensitive, redness and post-flight breakouts.

A big night out, followed by a rough morning

You might have meant to have one quick drink after work, followed by a relaxing evening catching up on Easy, but it almost never works out that way. One drink is followed swiftly by another, and then people get antsy about you leaving at a time they’ve inexplicably deemed unacceptable (note to self: set healthier boundaries with friends). Next thing you know you’re ordering a Bic Mac with fries at 1am. Eek.

And that’s just the beginning. Fast forward to your 6am wakeup call, the triple-shot latte on the way to work, and the (thankfully) short-lived habit of wincing every time someone says anything in a note more audible than a whisper. How does this affect your skin? Both alcohol and coffee are well-known dehydrators of the skin, while the sugar content in cocktails and greasy food can lead to breakouts and accelerated ageing. Then there’s the lack of sleep, which has its own list of evils. To fix all of this, you need to instigate emergency protocol ‘Rehydrate and Destroy.’ Before heading out to face the day, wash your skin gently, then follow-up with a moisturising mask. Wash off then apply a moisturiser containing Vitamin A to help with cell regeneration. The Environ Moisturising Gel looks great, but be sure to use and SPF after.

Menstrual hell

Breaking out over your period is not due to hygiene woes, but rather our good friends, le hormones. The hormone that tells your uterus to contract and jump-start your period – prostaglandin – is increased just before your period, stimulating your oil-production glands. This leads to an access of oil that can block pores. Bummer! Increasing your Vitamin A intake, as well as using a BHA to unclog pores will go a long way to making your period one of smooth sailing. If you consistently breakout badly before menstruation, it might be good to look into natural ways of balancing your hormones.

We hope that answered all your skincare emergency questions, but get in touch with our Skin Renewal doctor’s through the Ask the Experts tab if you have any other dermatological concerns. They’re happy to help and super knowledgable on all things concerning skincare. In the mean time, comment below with your favourite rescue routine for skin in need of TLC!

Great article, like they say prevention is better than cure but we are only human after all. When I’m past the prevention stage, I like to make a spot treatment out of aspirin( salicylic acid ) and rose water to apply to any zits that I need to calm down a bit. Works a charm for me.

A big night out, followed by a rough morning
I think us women all deserves that night out once in a while…. but yet the day after we feel like death and our skin is dryed out.
Keep hydrated drink lots of water while you having your drinks or cocktails .

This was such a good read and I learned a lot. I am guilty on most of these bad habbits and so grateful for this article. One of the habbits I am guilty of is that I execrcise a lot and never would have thought that I should wipe my face first to get rid of all the makeup and then execise. I will definitely be practising these handy tips to zap those breakouts! My favorite rescue routine for my skin is to drink a lot of water to flush out all the toxins I put into my body over a weekend; this helps a lot and of course beauty sleep! That is the most important thing of all.

Sign up for our newsletter!

We Love This Product

BeautySouthAfrica - your pre-shop stop for all things beauty

Beautysouthafrica.com is South Africa’s most comprehensive online beauty magazine and your pre-shop stop for product information and reviews. From the latest international make-up trends to the hottest new products on the market, we offer insights into the glamorous world of beauty. Join like-minded beauty fanatics in our loyalty program and earn points, trial beauty products and share your experiences.